The Prince Rupert Pride Party 2024 was a huge success! I planned this event with a group of folks who are part of the unofficial Prince Rupert LGBTQ+ pride group, which included Scott, Russel, Christine, and Sam. We hosted our Pride Party at a local beloved brewery called Wheelhouse. They are known for being huge allies to the community, and always doing their best to provide a safe, welcoming space for everyone in our town. Plus, they are famous for their legendary vinyl nights, where a small crew of local musicians play vinyls all night. We decided to have a vinyl night that would also serve as a Pride Party, so the crew made sure to include music from members of the LGBTQ+ community. Drinks and pizza were provided to all with the budget acquired through grants between me, from NSG, and Scott from his union. Scott and I planned the logistics alongside Russell and Christine. I also provided marketing items like social media posts and posters to advertise the event around town. Scott also provided great decorations, and we were able to turn the Wheelhouse into an amazing Pride Party venue. Everyone helped put up and take down decorations. The Wheelhouse team was absolutely wonderful during the entire process. Our local Tourism Prince Rupert was also having a pride event the same day but earlier on, so they boosted our advertising by encouraging folks to attend the Wheelhouse Pride Party. We were worried that having two events on the same day would be an obstacle, but after speaking with Tourism Prince Rupert, we decided that community comes first, and we wanted everyone in town to participate in as many pride events as possible, so we came to an agreement where we would advertise each other’s events!
I think the most important lessons we learned during this event were:
1.) Timing is everything. You’ll always need more time to plan an event than you think!
2.) People in our community love to support each other. We saw SO much incredible support from Wheelhouse, local businesses that advertised our event, and just from folks in the community.
All in all, it was a great experience, and my group and I were so happy to be able to create a safe, welcoming space for everyone, not just in Prince Rupert, but also in neighbouring First Nations communities. We look forward to planning the next Prince Rupert Pride Party!
